Storm Breaking
by Caskett1960
Summary: AU. What would've happened in 'After the Storm' if Martha and Alexis hadn't come back to the loft? Rated M for sexual content


**Disclaimers: 'Castle' belongs to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Studios. I just like to take Kate and Rick out to play with them. The story, on the other hand, is all mine.**

**Summary: AU. What would've happened in 'After the Storm' if Martha hadn't picked Alexis up and brought her back to the loft? Rated 'M' for sexual content.**

**A/N #1: I have only been consistently watching 'Castle' since September of 2012. I had seen an episode or two before that, but the first episode I clearly remember watching is 'Always' because it coincided with the Season 5 premier of 'After the Storm.' I have been posting fan fiction for another TV show since 2001. When I was challenged to start writing 'Castle' fan fic, I agreed, but only after watching the first four seasons on TNT. In my mind, to write good fan fiction, you have to know and understand your characters. It seems to be paying off judging by the followers, the reviewers and the readers who have added me to their favorite's lists. To all of you I say thank you because it makes me feel validated as a writer.**

**A/N #2: I also wondered why Kate sauntered into Castle's bedroom the morning after wearing a white shirt. I think it would've been far sexier to slip on the shirt that he'd been wearing the night before. It also would've made far more sense, Mr. Marlowe. So, I'm changing the shirt color, folks.**

Storm Breaking

Rick Castle still couldn't believe it. It had to be a dream. He _was_ dreaming, wasn't he? If this was a dream, he didn't want anybody pinching him and waking him up. Had Det. Kate Beckett, the star of many of his erotic dreams, really shown up on his doorstep, soaking wet and looking like a drowned rat, the night before? Had she really told him that she just wanted him? Was the beautiful woman sleeping to his right really here?

He looked out of his loft window. The violent thunderstorm of the night before had passed, leaving in its wake a full moon that illuminated his bedroom, his bed, and the other occupant that was indeed sleeping immediately to his right, her brown hair tousled on her pillow, her hand stretched out beside her.

The sex had been . . . words couldn't even begin to describe it. It was hotter than anything he could've written for one of his _Nikki Heat _novels. It had been raw, visceral, frantic. When she'd taken his hand and led him back to his room, and he'd closed and locked his bedroom door behind them, their hands had been everywhere as clothes were torn off of bodies. He remembered that everything had been frenzied and wild as their hands and lips seemed to devour each other in a sexual heat that left them both fervent with their desire for one another.

Afterwards, they'd both fallen into an exhausted, but sated slumber, one that Kate was still under. He knew that he needed to ask her what had happened, what had brought her to his doorstep when he thought that he'd never see her again. Their argument had seemed like a final death knell to their partnership. She'd accused him of treating her like a child and he'd told her that he wasn't going to sit back and watch her die for her cause. It had been the worst fight that they'd had since early in their partnership, when he'd looked into her mother's case after she'd warned him not to.

He glanced over as Kate twitched her nose in her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked at him with a sleepy smile in her eyes. He scooted down into his pillow so that they were facing each other. "You're cute when you sleep," he grinned as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Watching me sleep is creepy, Castle. Stalkers and serial killers watch people sleep," she reminded him. "The storm ended," she observed as she looked out of the window.

"Yeah, a couple of hours ago now. So, how are you feeling?" He moved closer as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Sore," she admitted as he made a face. "Not because of you, silly. Because of Maddox."

"_I almost died and all I could think about was you." _ He remembered her telling him that the night before. "What happened, Kate?" It had been the same question he'd asked her the night before.

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

"So, what do you want to talk about?" He asked as he pulled the sheet down her body, exposing her naked breasts to his appreciative eye. The night before had been so frenetic that he now wanted to take his time and explore his favorite detective's body in minute detail. She winced slightly when he touched a longer scar on her side. "This is the scar that still bothers you on occasion?"

"It's why I'm doing the strength training. Well, that and the bullet to my heart. It sapped my strength. That one," she took his hand and guided it along the scar, "is where they had to put in a chest tube because my lung had collapsed. Apparently, when they cut you open in a hurry, they're not particularly dainty about it."

"How long can you stay?" He asked as he kissed her, his lips soft against her own.

"When are your mother and Alexis due back?"

"Mother is in the Hamptons, no doubt entertaining her friends in _my _house," he gave her a rueful smile. "Alexis is due back by lunchtime today, unless she makes other plans."

"Then, I'm all yours until later this morning."

"All mine," he whispered huskily. "I like the sound of that."

Her stomach clenched as he bent down to kiss her neck, paying special attention to the sensitive spot under her ear. His warm breath tickled her neck when he gently bit and nipped at the sensitive skin between her neck and her collarbone. Her skin still smelled faintly of cherries and other scents that were uniquely Kate. Castle felt that he could never get enough of her.

He kissed his way down her throat to the space between her breasts, feeling Kate gasp when he kissed the small puckered scar near her left breast. Cupping her right breast in his hand, he moved to her left breast, flicking her nipple with his tongue before enclosing it in his mouth, feeling it harden under his tongue as she wrapped her hands into his hair, pulling him closer to her sensitive skin. He then moved to her other breast as she let out another loud gasp.

Castle moved further down her body, letting the sheet slide down both of their bodies. He planted soft kisses along the edges of her other scar before moving even further down. He swirled his tongue slowly in her belly button as he reached down to touch her, feeling how wet and ready she was. "Castle," she breathed out his name as he replaced his fingers with his lips and tongue.

***CCC***

It had been a long time since Kate had felt so wonderfully alive. As she walked from the playground to Castle's loft in the pouring rain the night before, she kept asking herself if she was making a mistake. Castle had been so angry earlier that afternoon. So hurt. When he hadn't answered her call, she'd almost turned around and returned to her apartment. But instead, she'd decided to just talk to him face to face. When he'd opened the door and asked her what she wanted, the word 'You' had just popped out of her mouth. She felt boneless and like her body had a mind of its own when she found herself instinctively reaching for him.

What they'd shared hadn't even been lovemaking in the conventional sense. It had been sex. Hot and raw. What happened when their bodies finally joined together had been the culmination of four years of friendship and unspoken desire. Afterwards, they hadn't even shared that many words. Instead, they had shared tender kisses and slow caresses as they drifted off to sleep, wrapped around one another.

What they were sharing at this moment was lovemaking. Castle's fingers trailed lightly over her skin as if he were worshipping her. His lips caressed over every inch of her skin, listening to her tells as to what she liked and what she disliked. At the moment, there was little that he was doing that she didn't like. She clutched at the sheets as his tongue brushed over that hot spot between her legs. He increased and decreased his rapidly flicking tongue depending on the intensity of her cries. She was beginning to understand how this incredibly talented man always had a girl on each arm. Right now, he was doing the most wonderful things to her with his mouth.

For his part, Castle loved listening to the sounds that Kate was making while he brushed over her wet folds with his lips and tongue. Adding two fingers to the mix, he felt her buck up against him. "Castle, please," she begged as she writhed hard against him as he fought to hold her still.

"What do you want?" He raised his head so that he could look at her.

"You. I just want you," she panted, repeating the words that she'd told him the night before.

Moving back up her body, he leaned over and opened up the drawer of the night stand, fishing inside until he found what he was searching for. Bringing his hand back, she smiled at the sight of the small square of plastic in his hand. Ripping the wrapper on the condom, he rolled it down his length as she found it hard to breathe. Aligning himself up with her, he entered her in one smooth thrust.

Moving down, he covered her lips with his, his hips gently thrusting into her as she began raising her hips to match his movements. She kissed his jaw, his cheek, his shoulder, and his neck as she dug her fingers into his back, ignoring the pain in her fingertips from hanging from the rooftop the day before. She was so close but she needed more. She grabbed him around the waist and flipped them so that she was now on top.

Castle didn't have time to ask himself how she'd managed to do that before she took his hands and placed them on her breasts, guiding her hands over his so that he knew how she wanted him to touch her. She threw her head back and made little cries as she moved faster and faster as he moved his hands down to her hips to guide her. "Touch me, Castle," she cried out as she took his hand and placed it between her legs where their bodies were tightly joined together. "I'm so fucking close."

He touched her rapidly between her legs as he felt all of her muscles clamp around him as she came hard, throwing her head back as she emitted a long, sharp cry of release. Hearing her ecstatic cries of passion was all it took for him to find his release also. He slipped his arms around her when she collapsed onto his chest, feeling relaxed as she listened to the rapid pounding of Castle's heart, which was matching her own.

Kate was practically purring as Castle stroked her back with gentle fingers. After several minutes of lying flat against his chest, she slowly rose up and graced him with the smile that he always loved. "You're very attentive, Mr. Castle," she teased, kissing the tip of his nose before capturing his lips with hers.

"As are you, Det. Beckett," he teased back, loving her smile. "Remind me never to sneak up on you. I'd hate to have you flip me in anything other than a sexual situation."

"So, you liked that, did you?"

"Oh, yeah," he nodded, watching as her smile got even bigger. "I like seeing that your strength training is paying off."

"I like being on top," she whispered in his ear.

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled as she bent down to kiss him again.

After a few minutes, she moved off of him and collapsed back onto her pillow as Castle discreetly disposed of the condom before rejoining her back on the bed, pulling her into his body as she stroked his chest. Wrapped up together once again, they both drifted back to sleep.

When Kate opened her eyes again, the sun was beginning to peek through the windows. She looked over at Castle, who was sprawled on his stomach, still soundly sleeping.

Now that she was awake, Kate needed coffee. Quietly getting out of bed, she picked up her discarded clothes from the floor, noticing that they were still too damp to wear. Not wanting to wander around Castle's loft naked, she searched for something to wear. She saw Castle's shirt that he'd been wearing the night before, so she picked it up and slipped it on before padding quietly out of the room to go make coffee.

***CCC***

Castle woke up and bolted upright, searching for his bed companion. Maybe it had been a dream, after all. But, then he saw her clothes where they'd landed on his bedroom floor the night before in the middle of their frenzy. Just as he was about to call her name, he saw a vision wearing his black button down shirt entering his bedroom carrying two mugs of coffee. He thought that his grin was going to split his face in two when she approached the bed and handed him one of the mugs. "You look far better in that shirt than I do," he managed to stammer as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"My clothes are still damp. You may have to loan me something to wear home."

"I'll throw your things into the wash. They'll be ready to wear again in no time," he couldn't stop grinning as he took her free hand in his. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened yesterday?"

In the light of day, he could see faint bruises on Kate's body, bruises that spoke of a vicious fight. "Espo and I tracked down Maddox' address. He had Montgomery's files. Everything happened so fast," she breathed slowly, trying not to work herself into a panic attack. "We were about to call for backup when he found us. He knocked Espo out with one blow. It happened so fast," she repeated as she got up and began to walk around the room.

"Kate?" He watched her walk around the room, obviously trying to come to terms with something too painful to think about.

"I followed him onto the roof and then I was fighting for my life. He kept telling me that I didn't know who I was dealing with. Somehow I ended up hanging from the rooftop eight stories above the ground—"

"Damn, Kate," Castle breathed.

"I heard you calling my name, Castle. I started calling back. Just as my hand slipped, I thought that you grabbed me. Only it wasn't you," she looked at him. "It was Ryan. He'd gone to Gates and told her what Espo and I were doing."

"Was she pissed?"

"You could say that. She placed both Espo and I on administrative leave. I told her to keep my badge that I quit."

"You quit?" He asked in disbelief.

"When I was hanging from that rooftop, nothing seemed to matter, anymore. I just feel like every time I get close to getting justice for my mother, the rug gets pulled out from under me. When I was hanging there and I heard you calling my name, I thought that maybe you'd changed your mind. You'd always had my back before. I thought that maybe Ryan had called you and told you what I was doing."

"I think that he did call me, Kate," Castle remembered the call that he'd gotten the afternoon before when he was getting ready to leave for Alexis' graduation. "I thought that it was Ryan or Esposito calling to get me to talk some sense into you. I turned my phone off. I wish that I'd picked it up."

"Castle, I don't blame you. Esposito and I were stupid not to take back-up with us. We're lucky that Maddox didn't kill both of us."

"What did you do after Gates suspended you?"

"I ended up at our swings. It was pouring down rain and I just sat there, remembering when I told you about the wall that I'd put up around myself. I remember when you told me that you wanted to be there when the wall came down."

"You said that you wanted me there, too."

"I think my showing up here last night was that wall being blown to bits," she smiled as he reached for her, unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it down her arms before letting it fall to the floor.

After making love for the third time, Castle gathered up Kate's clothes and put them in the washing machine for her. Coming back into the bedroom, he handed her his robe. "Are you sure that you want to leave before Alexis gets home?"

"Castle, I know that your daughter and I get along great, but I really think that we should wait before we tell her that we've taken the next step."

"So, this is the next step? You're serious about this going somewhere?"

"Yeah, of course. Aren't you?"

"Oh, definitely," he grinned.

After her clothes dried, Kate took a shower and got dressed. She then went into the living room where Castle was waiting in his kitchen. "If you can slip away later, come to my apartment and we'll take up where we left off with round two," she walked into the kitchen and slipped her arms around him, grinning broadly when he put her arms around her and tugged her into him.

"Well technically, it would be round four," he reminded her, kissing her as she moaned into his mouth.

As he walked her to the front door and made plans to meet her at her apartment later, he felt like he was walking on air. He had finally gotten the girl!


End file.
